Nicholas LEES 2017-09-21T11:33:32+00:00

Project Description

Nicholas Lees

Nicholas LEES

  • Nicholas Lees
  • Nicholas Lees
  • Nicholas Lees

Nicholas Lees is an award-winning British sculptor who uses clay to create objects that defy our everyday perceptions of space and place. The jury citation, when earlier this year he was awarded the Cersaie Prize at the 59th Faenza Biennale, sums up his achievement perfectly.

“Through his flawless technical perfection, the artist communicates a sensation of dematerialized lightness which calls to mind trompe l’œil effects which are both dynamic and bright. His shapes overcome the archetypal of the vase and become motion, perception and intangible uncertainty”

For the spectator, these sculptures deliberately blur the boundaries, creating formal and spatial interactions which are unexpected and unpredictable. Their strength lies in their unabashed acknowledgement of their domestic and industrial heredity, in terms of both form and process, yet they firmly challenge us to read them with fresh eyes. Their unequivocal embrace of their equivocal physical presence lends them a power which goes way beyond the implications of any subjacent references. These are the refreshing manifestation of a truly new voice speaking very clearly.

Public acknowledgement of Nicholas Lee’ work also extends to his remarkable drawings which, which when he was studying at the Royal College of Art, earned him the prestigious Desmond Preston Prize for Excellence in Drawing. These technically and visually innovative works furnish a fascinating extension to the artist’s field of formal investigation.

  • York City Art Gallery, York
  • Royal Caribbean International
  • Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany
  • Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy.
  • Auckland Museum, Auckland, New Zealand
  • Cersaie Prize, International Ceramic Art competition, Faenza, Italy.
  • Desmond Preston award for excellence in drawing. RCA, London.
  • National Sculpture Award. Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool.
  • Award of Merit. 1st European Ceramics Competition. Greece.
  • Third prize. 53rd International Ceramic Art Competition. Faenza, Italy.

2015

  • St.Art Fair, Strasbourg, France. With Galerie du Don.
  • ‘Form & Frei’. Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig Holstein, Germany.
  • ‘Many a Slip’. Marsden Woo Gallery, London.
  • Premio Faenza, International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy.
  • Ceramics of Europe selected artists. European Parliament, Strasbourg, France.
  • ‘Nicholas Lees and Ashraf Hanna’, Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels, Belgium.

2014

  • Ceramics of Europe. Westerwald Keramikmuseum, Germany.
  • PAD London with Adrian Sassoon.
  • ‘Light Reflections’. Mint, London.
  • Mixed Exhibition. Marsden Woo, London.
  • Encounter Fine Art. Broadway House, Fulham.

2013

  • Selfridges Concept Store. London.
  • British Ceramics Biennial Award Exhibition. Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.
  • The Open West. Newark Park and Cheltenham Museum and Art Gallery.
  • Mixed Exhibition. Marsden Woo, London.

2012

  • Drawing Biennial. One Church Street Gallery, Bucks.
  • Show 2012. RCA Graduate exhibition
  • James Tower and Contemporary Ceramics Art, Gimpel Fils, London.
  • Ceramic Art London, RCA student show, RCA, London.

2010

  • National Sculpture Award. Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool.

2009

  • 5th World Ceramics Biennale. Icheon. South Korea.
  • European Ceramics – 12th Westerwald Prize. Hohr-Grenzhausen, Germany.

2008

  • 10 Years On. Work from Fireworks Studio. Llantarnam Grange and touring.

2007

  • 4th World Ceramics Biennale. Icheon, South Korea.

2004

  • 1st European Ceramics Competition Exhibition. Amaroussion, Greece.
  • Westerwald Ceramic Art Competition. Germany.

2003

  • 53rd International Ceramic Art Competition, Faenza, Italy.

2002

  • Bishop Philpotts Gallery, Truro. ‘Ceramica’ festival.
  • Peter’s Barn Gallery, Sussex. Solo exhibition.
  • Ceramic Contemporaries 4. Royal College of Art. London. (Touring).

2001

  • Positive and Negative. Pearoom Crafts Centre, Lincolnshire.
  • Sculpture for St. Swithun’s Day. Red House Museum, Christchurch, Dorset.

2000

  • Trialog Gallery. Hohr – Grenzhausen, Germany. Exhibition accompanying symposium.

1999

  • The Candover Gallery, Alresford, Hants.
  • The Red Gallery, Portsmouth, Hants. Solo exhibition.
  • Peter’s Barn Gallery, Sussex.
  • Art in Clay, Hatfield House, Herts.
  • Not just Pots – New Directions in Contemporary Ceramics. Hampshire County
  • Council Museums Service. Touring Exhibition.

1998

  • Ceramics From Wales. Ceramics Gallery. Sydney, Australia.
  • Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award. Auckland, New Zealand.

1997

  • NewArt. Wrexham Art Centre.